Overcasting device for sewing machines



11g 0 Z JE BY June 15, 1943. J. HICKEY 2,321,747

OVERCASTING DEVICE FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Ju1y'5, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet1' JAMES HICKEY INVENTOR QMQTOW June 15, 1943. J. HICKEY 2,321,747

OVERCASTING DEVICE FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed July 5, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet2 1 I mum 1 53 56 ATTORNEYS June 15, 1943. c Y 2,321,747

OVERCASTING DEVICE FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed July 5, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet3 JAMES HICKEY l N VE NTO R BY L4%@.

ATTORNEYS Patented June 15, 1943 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE OVERCASTINGDEVICE FOR SEWING MACHINES James Hickey, Portland, Oreg.

Application July 5,- 1941, Serial No. 401,074

Claims.

This invention relates to an attachment for sewing machines of thecustomary type whereby an additional overcasting stitch, or so-calledwhip-stitch border seam, can be sewn in conjunction with, and inaddition to, the regular sewing machine stitch or seam.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple device which mayquickly and easily be attached to an ordinary sewing machine and whichwill perform the overcasting stitch in cooperation with the sewing ofthe regular stitch with the operation of the sewing machine.

Another object of tlL's invention is to provide a simple overcastingdevice which will be selfregulating and will adjust itself to any lengthor change of length in the regular machine stitch.

A further object of this invention is to provide an overcasting deviceby which the overcasting thread will be caught by the regular machinestitch alternately on opposite sides of the cloth, but which will notrequire any up and down movement of the cloth other than that requiredby the usual feeding mechanism in the ordinary sewing machine.

A still further object is to provide an attachment of the nature abovedescribed which will be compact in form, requiring but little space whenattached to the sewing machine, and thus not inconveniencing theoperator engaged in stitching the cloth.

These and other objects I attain by making my overcasting attachment inthe manner hereinafter described and functioning as hereinafterexplained in the following description, in which description referenceis to be made to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my device showing the same in place ona sewing machine;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the overcasting device alone; the sideshown in elevation being the same as that shown in perspective in Figure1, and the position of the elements in the device being the positionwhich they occupy when the feeder for the overcasting thread is passedabove the cloth which is being sewed;

Figure 3 is a side elevation similar to Figure 2 but showing theposition of the elements when the overcasting thread feeder has beenretracted from the cloth;

Figure 4 is a similar slide elevation showing the position of theelements when the overcasting thread feeder is in position under thecloth;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the overcasting de- Figure 6 is a sideelevation taken from the side opposite that shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4,the elements being in the same position as that shown in Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective of part of the device of Figure 1drawn to a larger scale and with most of the elements omitted for thesake of clarity;

Figures 8, 9, 10 and 11 are diagrammatic views illustrating the positionof the feeder for the overcasting thread and the position of the machineneedle and the combining of the machine stitching overcasting stitch inthe four stages which make up one complete cycle of operation; and

Figure 12 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view, shown partly in section,of the adjustable tightener and holder for the spool carrying theovercasting thread. 7

The device includes a main frame piece comprising a vertical portion l0and an integral bottom horizontal flange or base II. The forward end ofthe vertical portion I0, that is the, end adjacent the reciprocatingsewing machine needle, is formed into an offset U-shaped bracket I3adapted to be attachedto the vertical bar M (Figure 1) of the sewingmachine in place of the customary "pressure foot which is ordinarilyused to hold the cloth in place during the sewing. The overcastingdevice is attached to the bar M by a knurled thumb screw [5 and issupported entirely on the bar 14. No other means of attaching theovercasting device to the sewing machine is required.

The forward end of the base II is extended so as to form a cloth guide,and thisend of the baseis first downwardly offset at l6 (Figures 1 and2) placing the cloth guide in a lower horizontal plane. The guidecontinues with an intermediate horizontal section I! havingupwardly-sloping tongue [8, a vertical, longitudinally-extending sidewall 2|, a horizontal guard I9 and a horizontal guide bar 20 extendingfrom the bottom edge of the side wall 2| (see also Figure 5). The guardI9 is formed with a slot I9, as shown in Figure 5, for the purpose ofaccommodating the moving thread-feeding arm, as will'be explained later.And the vertical side wall 2! of the cloth guide has a cut-outsection'l2 (see Figures 4 and 6) inregistration with the cut-out portionl9"for the same reason. The guard [9 also has a notch 55 (Figure 5) atone side through which the needle of the sewing machine passes when theneedle is reciprocated up and down during the operation of the machine.

The position of the cloth during the stitching and overcasting is shownby the broken lines 56 in Figures 2, 3 and 4. Thus the cloth is passedunder the horizontal section I! and tongue I8, over the guard I9, andunder the horizontal bar 20. The cloth is pulled along through the guideby the customary cloth-feeding means of the sewing machine, which is notshown and which need not be described, since such cloth-feeding means iscommon to all sewing machines.

The overcasting thread is fed to the cloth by a feeding element whichhas a sickle-shape feeding end 22. This feeding element is shown moreclearly in Figure 5. The sickle-shaped end 22 is downwardly-offset froma horizontal crossarm 22, and the shape of the entire feeding element isshown clearly in Figures 8 to 11.

The other end of the cross-arm 22' extends upwardly a short distance andthen above and parallel to the main portion, forming a U-shaped loop 51(see Figures 2 and 4).

This feeding element for the overcasting thread is supported on apositioning arm 23 which is hinged at one end to the main frame of thedevice by means of a hinge shaft 29, and which has its other end formedinto a U-shaped loop 58, similar in shape to, but larger than the loop51 of the cross-arm 22' of the feeding element and adapted to extendaround the loop 51 as shown in Figures. 1, 2, 3 and 4. A pair of screws59 support the cross-arm 22' for pivotal movement on the free end of thepositioning arm 23. A spring toggle connection, including a snapoverspring 23 (Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5), also joins the cross-arm 22 and thepositioning arm 23.

A bell crank 31 (Figures 1 to 4), is pivotallymounted on the main framepiece In by means of a shouldered screw 38. The upper arm of the bellcrank 31 is bifurcated at its free end as shown at 39 in order slidablyto engage the set' screw 60 (Fig. 1) in the needle spindle 43 of thesewing machine. A slotted link 45 (Fig. 6) is pivotally-connected to theother arm 42 of the bell crank 31 and slides on a screw 41 extendingfrom the main frame 10. The slotted link 45 has a pair of spaceddownwardly-extending lugs 48 and 48 adapted to engage opposite edges ofthe cross-arm 22'. Thus up and down move ment of the upper arm of thebell crank 31, when the sewing machine is operated, produces reciprocal,substantially horizontal movement of the slotted link 45 which in turncauses thesickle-shaped end 22 of the feeding element to swing back andforth between the full line and dotted line positions shown in Figure 5.The spring toggle 28 acts to accelerate the movement of the feedingelement in either direction and to retain the feeding element in eitherof the two extreme positions shown in Figure 5 when it is notv beingactuated by the operation of the sewing machine.

The positioning arm 23, on which the crossarm 22' of the feeding elementis supported has an upwardly-deformed ear 33 which engages the free endof a torsion spring '32 (see Figure '7), which is so-arranged as to urgethe positioning arm 23 upwardly and against the periphery of a cam wheel34 mounted for rotation on the main frame Ill. The cam wheel 34 isformed with a plurality (the number in the device illustrated being six)of projections or cam surfaces. 35 on its periphery, and the rotation ofthe cam wheel 34 (in clockwise direction as. viewed in Figures 2, 3, 4-;and 7.), causing each cam projection 35 in succession to press thepositioning arm 23 downwardly against the force of the torsion spring32, produces up and down reciprocal movement of the free end of arm 23.

A ratchet wheel 35, secured to the rear side of cam wheel 34 (as viewedin Figure 3), is formed with twice as many teeth on its periphery asthere are cam projections 35 on the cam wheel. A pawl 4|, mounted on thelower arm 42 of the bell crank 31, engages the teeth of the ratchetwheel 35, the pawl 4| being held in engagement with the ratchet teeth bya spring 43. Thus, as the upper arm of the bell crank 31 is reciprocatedby the needle spindle of the sewing machine, intermittent rotation isimparted to the ratchet wheel 36 and thereby to the cam wheel 34. But,as will be apparent from Figure 3, since each ratchet tooth is engagedin turn with one down and upstroke of the upper arm of the bell crank31, and since there are twice as many ratchet teeth on the ratchet wheel35 as there are cam projections on the cam wheel 31, the cam wheel willact to press the arm 23 down only with every other stroke of the bellcrank. With the up. and down movement of the positioning arm 23, theovercasting thread-feeding element for the overcasting thread, whichfeeding element is mounted on the arm 23, will also be moved up anddown.

As previously explained, with reference to Figures 5 and 6, up and downmovement of the upper arm of bell crank 31 will cause the overcastingthread-feeding element to swing back and forth horizontally. At the sametime this feeding element will be raised and lowered alternately. Thus,assuming the members to be in the position shown in Figures 2 and 6, thesickleshaped end 22 of the feeding element will extend over the top ofthe cloth in raised position. Then downward stroke of the needlespindle, and, with it, of the upper arm of bell crank 31, will cause theovercasting thread-feeding element to swing out away from the cloth intothe position shown in Figures 3 and 5. Next,

' the upward stroke of the needle spindle will cause this feedingelement to swing back, by this time the feeding element will swing underthe cloth and will be brought into the position shown in Figure 4 andalso shown by the broken lines in Figure 5.

The overcasting thread is contained on a spool 24 (Fig. 1) supported onan adjustable spool holder 59 (Figure 5). The spool holder comprises ashaft 53, secured to the frame of the device, and a sleeve 5| adjustablethereon. The sleeve 5| is beaded on its inner surface as at 52 (Figure12), or otherwise deformed slightly, so as to engage the shaft 53frictionally and thereby hold the sleeve in place, and the sleeve has aflange at its outer end adapted to bear against an end of the spool. Afelt washer 54 (Figure 5) is preferably placed adjacent a correspondingflange at the inner end of the holder as an aid in restraining the'spoolfrom rotating too freely. The friction sleeve 5| makes it possible to.impose suflicient brake on the spool to prevent the overcasting threadfrom becoming too loose without, however, restraining the spoolsufficiently to cause the thread to be pulled too tight.

The overcasting thread passes from the spool through an eyelet 2.5 and aloop 25 (Figure 5) on the outside. edge. of the sickle-shaped end 22. ofthe feeding element, and the overcasting thread is finally passedthrough an eye. 21 at the tip of the feeding element.

The Operation of my device will now be understood by. referring toFigures 8, 9, and 11'. In these'figllres'the regular machine stitch,made in the cloth 56 by the sewing machine needle 3|, is indicated atBl. The result produced by my device is the joining of the overcastingstitch with the regular stitch on the opposite side of the clothalternately. With each upstroke of the machine needle 3| the overcastingfeeder pushes the overcasting thread either above or below the cloth inposition to be engaged by the next downstroke of the machine needle.Thus, assuming first that the machine needle and the overcastingthreadfeeder are in the positions showninFigure 8, with the next upstroke ofthe needle 3!, the end of the feeder 22 will be moved above the clothinto the position shown in Figure 9. Then as the machine needle movesdownwardly to pierce the cloth, the end of the feeder 22 moves outwardlyand into the position of Figure 10, the overcasting thread being caughtaround the needle and under the regular machine stitch 6| as shown.Again as the machine needle 3| moves up the overcasting feeder movesinto position, but this time below the cloth, as shown in Figure 11.Upon the next downward stroke of the machine needle the overcastingthread will be caught by the needle and by the regular machine stitch onthe top side of the cloth and the elements will now be back in theposition illustrated in Figure 8, thus completing one complete cycle ofthe overcasting stitch operation.

lclaimz I 1. An overcasting device adapted to be used on an ordinarysewing machine comprising a frame, means for attaching said frame to thebar of the pressure foot of the sewing machine, a bell crank rotatablymounted on said frame, means for connecting said bell crank to theneedle spindle of the sewing machine, a cam disc rotatably mounted onsaid frame, said cam disc rotated by said bell crank, a positioning armpivotally mounted on said frame below said disc for up and downmovement, a spring pressing said arm upwardly against the bottom of theperimeter of said cam disc, whereby said spring and said cam disc willoperate to produce vertical reciprocation of said arm when said cam discis rotated, an overcasting thread feeder, one end of said feedersupported on said arm and mounted to permit the other end to oscillatein a substantially horizontal are, means connected with said bell crankfor causing the free end of said feeder to'oscillate, whereby said freeend will swing into position alternately above and below the materialbeing stitched when said positioning arm is raised or lowered.

2. An overcasting device adapted to be used on an ordinary sewingmachine comprising a frame, means for attaching said frame to the bar ofthe pressure foot of the sewing machine, a cam disc rotatably mounted onsaid frame, said cam disc rotated by the sewing machine, a positioningarm pivotally mounted on said frame below said disc for up and downmovement, a spring pressing said arm upwardly against the bottom of theperimeter of said cam disc, whereby said spring and said cam disc willoperate to produce vertical reciprocation of said arm when said cam discis rotated, an overcasting thread feeder pivotally mounted on said armso as to oscillate horizontally with respect to said positioning arm forintroducing continuous overcasting thread a1- stitched, means actuatedby the sewing machine for causing the thread-carrying end of, saidfeeder to oscillate, whereby said thread-carrying end will swing intoposition alternately above and below the. material being stitchedwhensaid positioning arm is raised or lowered.

3. An overcasting device adapted to be used on an ordinary sewingmachine comprising a frame, means forattaching said frame to the sewingmachine, said frame supported parallel to the ordinary line of stitch ofthesewing machine, a bell crank rotatably mounted on said frame, meansfor connecting said bell crank to the needle spindle of the sewingmachine, a cam disc rotatably mounted on; said frame, said cam discrotated by said bell crank, a positioning arm pivotally mounted on saidframe below said disc for up and down movement, a spring pressing saidarm upwardly against the bottom of the perimeter of said cam .disc,whereby said spring and said cam disc will operate to produce verticalreciprocation of said arm when said cam disc is rotated, an overcastingthread feeder, said feeder pivoted on said arm and mounted to oscillatein a substantially horizontal arc, the thread guiding end of said feederbeing sickle-shaped, means connectedwith said bell crank for causing thesickle-shaped end of said feeder to oscillate, whereby saidsickle-shaped end will swing into position alternately above and belowthe material being stitched when said positioning arm is raised orlowered.

4. An overcasting device adapted to be used on an ordinary sewingmachine comprising a frame, means for attaching said frame to the bar ofthe pressure foot of the sewing machine, said frame supported parallelto the ordinary line of stitch of'the sewing machine, a positioning armpivotally mounted on said frame for up and down movement, means forreciprocating said arm in a vertical plane, an overcasting threadfeeder, said feeder pivoted on said arm and mounted to oscillate in asubstantially horizontal arc, so as to cause the thread-carrying end ofsaid feeder to oscillate laterally with respect to the sewing machineneedle, means actuated by the sewing machine for causing thethread-carrying end of said feeder to oscillate, whereby saidthread-carrying end will swing into position alternately above and belowthe material being stitched when said positioning arm is raised orlowered, a spool holder for the overcasting thread attached to saidframe, means on said holder for restraining the rotation of the spoolwhereby to control the tension on the overcasting thread.

5. An overcasting device adapted to be used on an ordinary sewingmachine comprising a frame, said frame supported parallel to theordinary line of stitch of the sewing machine, a positioning armpivotally mounted on said frame for up and down movement, means forreciprocating said arm in a vertical plane, an overcasting threadternately above and below the material being feeder, one end of saidfeeder supported on said arm and mounted to permit the other end tooscillate in a horizontal are, a snapover toggle spring connecting thepivoted end of said feeder and said positioning arm, the thread-carryingend of said feeder being sickle-shaped, means actuated by the sewingmachine for causing the free thread-carrying sickle-shaped end of saidfeeder to oscillate, whereby said free thread-carrying sickle-shaped endwill swing into position alternately above and below the material beingstitched When said positioning arm is raised or lowered, and said togglespring will accelerate the lateral movement of said feeder.

6. In an overcasting device of the character described, a frame, meansfor attaching said frame to the bar of the pressure foot of a sewinmachine, a positioning arm pivotally mounted on said frame for up anddown movement, means for reciprocating said arm in a vertical plane, anovercasting thread feeder, a pivotal mounting on said arm for saidfeeder, said pivotal mounting permitting said feeder to oscillate in asubstantially horizontal are.

'7. In an overcasting device of the character described, a frame, saidframe supported parallel to the ordinary line of stitch of a sewingmachine, a positioning arm pivotally mounted on said frame for up anddown movement, means for reciprocating said arm in a vertical planeparallel to said ordinary line of stitch, an overcasting thread feeder,said feeder pivotally supported on said arm fo swinging horizontally,the thread guiding end of said feeder being sickle-shaped.

8. In an overcasting device of the character described adapted to beused on an ordinary sewing machine, an overcasting thread feeder havinga thread-guiding end, said feeder mounted to swing horizontally so as topermit the threadguiding end of said feeder to oscillate laterally withrespect to the sewing machine needle, the thread-guiding end of saidfeeder being sickleshaped, means for alternately raising and loweringsaid feeder, and means for causing said thread-guiding end of saidfeeder to swing in and out horizontally when said feeder is in raisedposition and when said feeder is in lowered position.

9. In an overcasting device of the. character described adapted to beused on an ordinary sewing machine, a frame, said frame supportedparallel to the ordinary line of stitch of the sewing machine, a camdisc rotatably mounted on said frame, said cam disc rotated by thesewing machine, a positioning arm pivotally mounted on said frame belowsaid disc for up and down movement, a spring pressing said arm upwardlyagainst the bottom of the perimeter of said cam disc, whereby saidspring and said cam disc will operate to produce vertical reciprocationof said arm when said cam disc is rotated, an overcasting thread feeder,one end of said feeder supported on said arm and mounted to permit theother end to swing in a horizontal arc, and means actuated by the sewingmachine for causing said feeder to oscillate laterally with respect tothe sewing machine needle.

10. In an overcasting device of the character described adapted to beused on an ordinary sewing machine, a frame, said frame supportedparallel to the ordinary line of stitch of the sewing machine, apositioning arm pivotally mounted on said frame for up and downmovement, means for reciprocating said arm in a vertical plane, anovercasting thread feeder, one end of said feeder supported on said armand mounted to permit the other end to swing in a horizontal arc, meansfor causing said other end to oscillate laterally with respect to thesewing machine needle, a snapover toggle spring connecting the pivotedend of said feeder and said positioning arm to accelerate the horizontalmovement of said feeder in either direction, the thread-carrying end ofsaid feeder being sickle-shaped.

JAMES HICKEY.

